From Goodmen to Scrivenors

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown", Hawthorne uses archetypal characters, such as Young Goodman Brown's wife Faith to demonstrate a very straightforward character, or in Young Goodman Brown's case, how everyone is perceived to be. However the story goes on to point out that many of the people who Young Goodman Brown knows may be more than they appear to be. All of the people that Young Goodman Brown encounters in the foret while walking with the devil, display an evil side which was unknown to Goodman Brown. For instance Goody Cloyse,who taught Goodman Brown the catechism, spoke with the devil as if she were a witch. The main idea that I get from the people who Goodman Brown meets in the forest is that in spite of whomsoever it may be, even someone that you may know very well, you will never be able to look inside of them and see who they really are. Another point that I can take away from this is that there is ptential for evil that lurks within everyone, that there is something in human nature that makes er from the right and deviate into what may become evil intentions.
Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado", a tale of ultimate revenge, is told to us directly by Montresor. This is exceptionally creepy, because it brings us into the midst of the murder as it happens. It is obvious that Montresor put a lot of thought into how he was going to coerce Fortunato into following Montresor to his doom. There may have been room for exageration in the story, because it is told from Montresor's point of view, so I am not altogether certain to what extent Forunato deserved his fate. However I felt that even thoug Montresor clearly felt violated, Fortunato was seemingly unaware of the fact that he had even remotely offended Montresor. Fortunato may have thought that Montresor understood that he was joking or that Fortunato may have been completely unaware to the fact that he was being offensive in any way. It is somewhat difficult for me to believe that out of all of the injuries that Montresor had suffered he would not choose to act until now, or even point out to Fortunato that he had been offended.
Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivenor" is a story about an exceedingly odd man who refuses to do his duties as a scrivenor. The first thing that hit me about this story was how incredibly bleak it was. So much so that it became arduous to read at points, but this does help with the overall atmosphere of the piece. Bleakness is a theme well applied to Bartleby, who, in spite of the lawyer's best efforts cannot deter Bartleby away from his passive resistance built upon the foundation of the word "prefer". I would like to argue that Bartleby was not of any special means or even outside of logical reasoning, but a man who realized that it was not natural for man to be bound by a lifeless ocupation where he will decay away into nothing but a shell of what he used to be. Proof of this may be interpreted from how he ceased to work for the lawyer seemingly at whim, he came from a dull and lifeless work, and he expressed no desire to keep working. It is in this way that Bartleby was not only a rebel against society but proof for his own cause. Because in the end Bartleby dies for refusing to comply with unnatural demands and all that he endured in a lifetime of work.